Former foster youth find jobs at new La La Land Cafe on Lower Greenville

A coffee shop set to open on Lower Greenville in March will provide jobs for foster kids aging out of the system, the owner told GuideLive.

Owner Francois Reihani said La La Land Kind Cafe will hire employees ages 17-23 who will learn to be baristas, cashiers and chefs. The foster-care workers will earn $12 an hour, nearly $5 higher than the state’s minimum wage of $7.25, according to GuideLive.

Through a partnership with the nonprofit CitySquare, the foster youths will receive mentoring and be encouraged to volunteer in the community.

The 23-year-old Reihani said he wanted to open the cafe after knowing several foster care children while growing up in Mexico. He now volunteers at nonprofits like Dallas CASA, which helps abused children.

“You have a friend for a year or six months, and then they disappear,” Reihani told GuideLive. “As a young kid, I didn’t really understand. It’s become very personal for me.”

The cafe will sell coffee, tea, empanadas and sandwiches made with organic ingredients when it opens in late March at 5626 Bell Ave. It will be located in an old home on a block that Jon Hetzel of Madison Partners told GuideLive will be redeveloped into a “funky retail” businesses serving the M Streets and Lakewood neighborhoods.

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